Can you fly with weed? It’s complicated — but these airports have a solution
Just because marijuana is legal in a growing number of states doesn’t mean federal agents will look the other way if they discover the drug in your carry-on at airport checkpoints.
That’s where the “cannabis amnesty box” comes in. Large blue bins with that self-explanatory label appeared at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports in early 2020 after Illinois legalized recreational weed, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, adding that the boxes can be found “at the end of every TSA checkpoint” at the international hubs.
But why have the boxes at all if weed is legal in Illinois? Because flying with marijuana is illegal under federal law, regardless of state rules governing the drug.
“We’re not encouraging people to bring cannabis through the airports at all,” Chicago police spokeswoman Maggie Huynh said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “But if for some reason you have it on you, we have those amnesty boxes out there so that you can dispose of it prior to getting on the airplane.”
The two Illinois airports aren’t alone in offering travelers a spot to ditch their pot with no repercussions: McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has amnesty boxes outside terminals now that Nevada has legalized recreational use of the drug, the Tribune reported. Similar boxes can be found at the airport in Colorado Springs, according to Fox News.
Do TSA agents look for marijuana?
A spokesperson for TSA said agents don’t actively hunt for marijuana or cannabis-infused items during security screenings at checkpoints, but agents are “obligated to report the discovery of any drugs or substances that are illegal under federal law,” Fox News reported.
From there, it’s up to local authorities to decide what to do.
“Based on our policy, we’re not going to arrest you or confiscate marijuana,” Los Angeles Airport Police spokesperson Alicia Hernandez told McClatchy News in a 2018 phone interview, speaking about LAX policy. “We’re not going to be taking any action against you for having that marijuana.”
But that’s airport police — and TSA, as a federal agency, is another story.
“We are two different entities,” Hernandez said. “TSA can deny you coming through the checkpoint. The checkpoint is their jurisdiction.”
Still, marijuana isn’t a TSA priority, the agency told McClatchy in 2018.
“TSA’s focus is on terrorism and security threats to the aircraft and its passengers,” TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers said in an email, adding that “TSA’s screening procedures, which are governed by federal law, are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers.”
What if the TSA finds marijuana?
When a TSA agent finds marijuana on a traveler or in luggage, agents are told to refer the violation to law enforcement, Dankers said.
That’s the policy regardless of where the traveler is in the country, and regardless of where the traveler is headed — even if the states involved have legalized marijuana.
“Law enforcement officials will determine whether to initiate a criminal investigation or what steps — if any — will be taken,” Dankers said, adding that “whether or not the passenger is allowed to travel with marijuana is up to law enforcement’s discretion.”
But even if small amounts of weed are allowed at LAX, large quantities can still get people in trouble with law enforcement, which is why marijuana trafficking arrests jumped 166 percent at the Southern California airport in the year after recreational pot was legalized, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2019.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Can you fly with weed? It’s complicated — but these airports have a solution."
